Two generals responsible for Moscow’s air defence charged with bribery

Two high-ranking Russian military officers responsible for Moscow’s air defence have been charged with bribery, state news agency TASS and Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Thursday.

Major General Konstantin Ogienko was arrested in July on suspicion of soliciting 500,000 rubles (€4,800) from the manager of a charity for signing a plot of land near Moscow controlled by the Defence Ministry over to her, according to TASS.

The bribe allegedly paid to Ogienko was just a small portion of a much larger one totalling 30 million rubles (€285,000), TASS reported, adding that Ogienko had pleaded not guilty to the charges and refused to testify.

The investigation first detained a colleague of Ogienko’s, General Dmitry Belyatsky, who pleaded guilty and agreed to provide testimony against Ogienko as part of a plea deal, according to TASS. Belatsky has reportedly been placed under house arrest, while Ogienko is in pre-trial detention. 

The case has prompted the Defence Ministry to launch an internal audit of land plots assigned to the air defence forces in an attempt to uncover any more potential corruption.